Instagram Archives | Cool Mom Tech

How to hide your Instagram Story from users. Psst: If you can do it, your kids can do it too.

A few months ago, we shared how to set up the Close Friends feature on Instagram, just in case you’ve got your kids (and their friends) following you and wanted to share something that they couldn’t see. Of course, whenever you do that, then you can pretty much assume...

Instagram trick: How to find all those cool Instagram Story filters everyone else seems to have.

by Liz Gumbinner | Photo Apps, Social Media

We used to say “photos or it didn’t happen,” but it feels like 2020 is all about “filters or it isn’t Instagram.” You may have noticed folks you follow using wacky filters — or oddly flattering filters that bathe them in a...

The top 10 Cool Mom Tech posts of 2019

by Cool Mom Staff | Link Roundups

We’re going into our 10th year of Cool Mom Tech and our 2nd year of our Out Tech Your Kids Facebook group that’s almost at 4500 members! We know, we can’t believe it either. Every year, we share our 10 most visited posts on Cool Mom Tech. From tech...

Instagram launches Restrict to help combat bullying. Here’s how it works.

by Kristen Chase | Internet Safety

With someone who’s got two teens on Instagram, I was pleased to hear that they recently added Restrict, an anti-bullying feature that, as Instagram describes, “allows users to quietly protect their account while still keeping an eye on their bully.”...

Instagram Stories trick: Turn your Live Photos into Boomerangs!

by Liz Gumbinner | Social Media, Tips and Tricks

I often like adding Boomerangs to an Instagram Story to help change things up from still photos. But then, I either have to go shoot a Boomerang in Instagram (and figure out what to shoot) or open the Boomerang app itself. Not one of life’s greatest problems,...

How to hide your Instagram Story posts from your kids

by Kristen Chase | Social Media

It’s not just tweens and teens who might be using Finstas (Fake-Instagram accounts) to throw off their parents. We parents whose kids and their friends follow us on Instagram have probably considered using them in case we want to freely post about our crazy...

How do you change the font on your Instagram bio?

by Liz Gumbinner | Social Media, Tips and Tricks

Every so often, you probably see an Instagram name that pops up in wedding script, some gothic type, or even upside down, and if you’ve wondered how you change the font on your Instagram bio, it’s so simple! There are apps you can download or keyboards you...

How do I keep kids safe on social media? | Guide to Digital Parenting

by Cool Mom Staff | Guide to Digital Parenting, Internet Safety, Social Media, Tips and Tricks

We couldn’t create an Ultimate Guide to Digital Parenting without including tips about how to keep your kids safe on social media. After all, for our tweens and teens, the Internet is social media, and they could sooner give up the games, the videos, and even...

How can I stop inappropriate follow requests on Instagram?

by Kristen Chase | Tips and Tricks

Last week, we had a lively discussion about inappropriate follow requests on Instagram in our Out Tech Your Kids Facebook Group. Many parents bemoaned the challenges of trying to navigate this with their kids on Instagram, even on private accounts. Unfortunately,...

Screen time and social media with kids: We might be doing it wrong, parents

by Kristen Chase | Tips and Tricks

Since reading Anya Kamenetz’s interview with Jordan Shapiro on NPR, I’ve made some heavy shifts in how I’m approaching screen time with my kids. For the years that they’ve been on video games, tablets and most recently, their own phones,...